QUESTIONING SENIOR DISCOUNT RULES

The recent incident involving a Starbucks store deciding on their own about what discounts to give to senior citizens is a wake-up call. I am sure that it is not the only Starbucks that is playing with the rules, so to speak. We are lucky that someone caught them in the act and reported them on social media. Otherwise, they could have gone on and on without anyone of us knowing about it. It seems to me that even if the laws are in black and white, the bad faith of some companies would give them the motivation to play tricks on their customers. What surprises me however, is how the netizens have reacted to this violation, and it seems that it will not be easy to appease them. The proof of that is the netizens are demanding that a lawsuit be filed against the Rustans Group, the owner of Starbucks, saying that an apology is not enough. Congressman Joey Salceda even suggested that Starbucks should give free coffee and pastries to the citizens, but it seems that would not be enough either. Which agency should take the lead in making sure that the laws pertaining to senior citizen’s discounts are strictly implemented? Should it be the DTI or the DILG? I think that the latter should implement it through the LGUs, with the close monitoring and supervision of the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC). In fairness to the NCSC, they are under staffed and underfunded, and that is one problem that the Congress has to solve. IKE SENERES/09088877282/02-06-2024